Improved furniture-caster



we can.

"STEPHEN CHANDLER, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

\ Letters Patent No. 91,086, dated June 8, 1869.

IMPROVED IEURNITU'RVE-GASTER.

The Schedule referred to iu these Letters Patent and making part of thesaine.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN CHANDLER, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Casters forFurniture and other articles; andI do hereby declare the following to beafull, clear, vand exact description thereof, which will enable thoseskilled in the art to .make and use the saine, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in whichdrawing- ,v Figure l is a longitudinal Ysection of my caster.

Figure 2 is an inverted plan view. This invention relates to casters forfurniture and otherportable articles, and the same consists in the useof free spherical caster-roller, surrounded by antifriction wheels,arranged in pairs, or in triplets, if desired, and surmounted by a freeupper spherical rollwhich is arranged and placed loosely in a socket, B,

formed to receive it in the' underside of the casterv head O.

The central part of said socket B is intersected by a smaller uppersocket, D, formed in said caster-head O, and in the socket D, I place asupplementary spherical roller, G.

lhe roller C is arranged in such a manner above the main caster-rollerA, that when the parts are at rest, the same vertical line will passthrough the centres of both the rollers A C.

The upper side of the socket D Ais made convex, so that the roller Cwill come in contact therewith at only a single point` y Thecaster-roller A is held in its socket, so that it will not fall out whenthe furniture is lifted from the floor, by means of spring-arms G, whichare in this example only three in number, and which project downwardsfrom the caster-head, as shown in the drawing, being arrangedintermediate of several, 'or

ets E, and their enclosed wheels or rollers F, are arrangedconcentrically about the caster-roller A, the several pairs being atabout equal distances apart.

The wheels orrollers F fit loosely upon their shafts K, so as to allowthe wheels to have a little side -p-ay thereon,in order that when thecaster-roller is pushed against them, they may adjust themselvesthereto, and facilitate the easy movements of the parts. I have shown,in lig. l, this method of fitting the wheels or rollers F ou theirshafts, the holes through them, 'to-receive the shafts, being enlarged,as is represented in that figure.

The several pairs of anti-friction wheels or rollers F, perform no partof the duty of retaining the casterroller in its place, when the casteris raised above the door; (this duty is wholly performed by thespringanus G but the duty of the said anti-friction wheels or rollers,is merely to form anti-friction surfaces, which will facilitate therevolution of the caster-roller about its own centre, when the furnitureto which it is applied, is pushed against, and on'this account I haveplaced the shafts K, on which the wheels or rollers F turn, above thehorizontal line which goes through the centre of the caster-roller.

The letter H designates the shank of the castel', which is tobe receivedin a suitable socket formed in the part of the furniture where thecaster is to be applied. I form upon said shank, au annular groove, I,and in said groove place on a loose collar, J,-'wh0se diameter is alittle greater than the diameter of that part of the shank where thecollar is situated. The

collar is prevented from leaving said groove by means of the shouldersat the lends of the grooves, but it is A free to turn therein.

I prefer to make this collar with a corrugated surface, and one mode ofmaking it is to coil a piece of eter of the adjacent parts of the shank.A collar so formed has some elasticity, and when the shank is forcedinto its receptacle, the threads or corrugations ofthe collar willbecome united, or will stick in the receptacle, and by that moans holdthe caster firmly in place, while the shank will be always free to turnin the collar. Should the shank fit too loosely in its socket orreceptacle, or wear loose therein, it can be tightened by winding athread or a fine wire around the collar between its threads or coils,until its diameter is increased to the proper size.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

lh'e spherical caster-roller A, in combination with. the spring-arms G,and the antilfriction wheels F, when the latter are arranged in pairswith their axes above the centre of the caster-roller, substantially asdescribed.

STEPHEN CHANDLER. Witnesses:

W. HAUFF, J. VAN SANTvooRD.

